No, camping all summer is not a good idea. I just came up with it last night. It is a better idea than living in a homeless shelter, a cardboard box, or the car. :-) Other than that, of course it doesn’t have much going for it as an idea, especially when the campsite is on a friend’s land in Vermont.
I have been looking at rural areas. I have to do it online, though, which is not very productive. We can’t afford to go anywhere to look around in person right now.
My boys have offered to get jobs, and tried to. There are too many applicants for jobs requiring unskilled labor, so they have been unsuccessful. Right now, they are mad because so many of those applicants were illegal aliens (90% of the foreigners in our area are illegal according to the organizations that help them).
I looked at the requirements for being able to get food stamps, figuring to save on the grocery bill and stash that money away — but we make too much money for that. Then one of my sons got the applications for the free lunch program at school — we don’t qualify — and I was mortified by that.
I figure it this way: It is in God’s hands. We are doing *everything* we can, and things will work out. I’ve gotten past fear and mostly past depression. Now I am waiting to see what unfolds, while doing everything in my power to make this work out.
Possibility of filing for legal separation from your husband, would at least get you to receive food stamps. Some people I worked with have done this with a little success. We will pray for you and yours.
Prayers for you and family cookiedough. You are very determined.
You were saying, cookiedough — I looked at the requirements for being able to get food stamps, figuring to save on the grocery bill and stash that money away — but we make too much money for that. Then one of my sons got the applications for the free lunch program at school — we don’t qualify — and I was mortified by that.
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There happens to be an area of a “gap” from the completely destitute — to the level of income where people are making enough to get by comfortably. In this “gap” (between those two ends) — if you fall into it, you’ll find that you can’t get by, while at the same time, there is absolutely *no help* available for you at all.
It — unfortunately — turns out that the only hope for people who are in that “gap” — is to fall further down, until they reach the “full help available” to those who are in the very low end, which means you must then end up having no resources, no income, no-nothing — and then — you’ll find the “help” opens up very widely for you...
That seems to be the way it works. You’re not going to find that you can “save money” (unfortunately) by getting a bit of assistance “here and there” while you try to “work your way back out of it”. It seems that the “government help” only opens up when you are completely destitute... (and not to help you keep from getting to that point...)
I know that from working with and helping some other relatives through some trying circumstances of their own... and seeing what was involved in that.
A friend of mine, a woman in her 50s, divorced, has been making a decent income for several years buying vintage costume jewelry and reselling it on eBay. Even in this economy, she is clearing $500/week, after Paypal and ebay fees, packaging and item costs. She buys lots online, sorts it, prices it low unless she lucks out and there is some gold included. I think her average price is $2-$5/item and she has about 100 items listed at any one time. She has learned a lot and the price guides for vintage items are often in the library or you can browse them at antique malls.
Today, paper routes require a car and are done by adults. When my 45-year-old son has been in tough economic times, he has taken on one or two routes. Sometimes he subs for other people and that way, they will sub for him. Pay varies, but I think it can be up to $100/week. Right now he is temping in network administration for about $14/hr, but he has kept two paper routes just because he learned to never give up an income source if possible. He had his own programming business that died a year ago. He also joined a couple of those computer-repair-type networks, like Geek Squad and picked up income that way. His wife has some health issues, but she makes around $400/month doing the bookkeeping for her church and another $200 week working at a local convenience store part time. Both the church work and the convenience store have given her networking opportunities that lead to other part-time work. She is an expert knitter and has picked up work at yarn shops teaching others and finishing abandoned projects. This led to some work for her husband upgrading and customizing the stores’ computers and software.
Decades ago, during WWII, my mother picked up income by knitting baby booties and other baby clothing and selling it on consignment at various shops. I have known people who finish needlework projects, like chair seats, for those who suddenly find they don’t have the time. In the 70s, as a young mother, I made money after teaching myself to sew on a borrowed machine. I started out trading repair jobs for things like hair cuts and making clothing for us. I graduated to sewing for others who were looking for a bargain.
Our businesses have been erratic this past year. My husband has been able to put together his skills in woodworking and his love of sailing, along with an industrial sewing machine he picked up at a discount a couple of years ago for his own sailmaking projects. He has made a tiller for one person and is repairing a catamaran trampoline for another, at the moment. One job came from a friend at his sail club and the other from a guy he met online in a sailing forum. From all our years of self-employment, we are fairly confident these will lead to other jobs. Inventory your hobbies, tools and and skills and think outside the box. You may have opportunities you haven’t recognized.
For your boys, right now is the time to line up yardwork. They can work as a team, raking and perhaps doing weeding later on. If they lack the skills to identify weeds, get them started with some online learning now and show them what is what over the next two months. Teach them to wash windows and that is another skill that is in demand. Undercut the price being charged by the illegals.
Can they walk dogs? Can they offer to water plants and feed cats when people are away? Might only be a few dollars at at a time, but it adds up, gives them confidence and adds to their skill sets. You can teach them how to present themselves and even print out business cards and a price list to distribute to mailboxes. For a bit more of an investment, they can print up postcards and mail them to prospective customers. Keeping busy will help with their anxiety.
Have you discussed some sort of moratorium with your lender?
There are programs I read about to help people stay in their homes in these times.
Perhaps you can’t qualify for food stamps, but there are food pantries available to stretch your budget. There is a program called SHARE that just asks you to have done some community service in the past or to help out packing the food parcels at the SHARE site.
Can your kids take their lunches? My husband brown bags and it saves him $7/day. Fishing season is close. Get them their licenses and some second hand equipment and let them try to catch some food for the freezer.
You are blessed if you have family you can count on, even it is for taking the kids over the summer while you relocate. My problem with camping in Vermont is that there is probably little work up there, so it wouldn’t further your needs. But, if you could combine the camping with an internet business for the summer, with one parent staying with the kids while the other relocates for work opportunities, lives very cheap and sends money home to be saved, it could be a short term help.
Come check out the Midwest. South Dakota has relatively low unemployment in Sioux Falls, for example, and low cost of living. I have children there and if things get worse for us, it is an option we have considered.
Prayers for you all. We all fight fear right now, even those of us in a better position than you all are at the moment. My lifelong experience is that just when we are about to give up, God does provide. He is faithful, but you have to be out there actively looking for the opportunities He provides. It sounds like you are trying. Blessings and good luck.
What part of the country are you in? Here in Texas, while the recession has hit and our unemployment rate is high, our housing pricing is stable. While jobs aren’t plentiful, there are plenty of smaller towns within driving distance of the major metros, and you might be able to find something out of town that’s affordable and get a job in town where the pay might be higher.
Come down here on a camping trip. Texas has no state income tax, and while our property taxes are higher than some, it’s not as high as back east. We have lots of absolutely beautiful state parks that are less than an hour to ‘town’. You might as well combine the camping with a job/house hunting trip. You could stay a month and not stay in the same park twice. Texas is mighty big. :-D